Puppet Master
by gloria.d.weber
Summary: He saw her almost everyday , at the same place, around the same time, at the bus stop, but he never talked to her. A part of him didn't want to bother her , but the other was just struck with curiosity. Why was she here at almost the same time everyday ? And why this bus stop ?
1. The Mystery Girl

**(A bit of an Authors Note: You notice the label of the Story is incomplete. Well that is true. So keep checking back for updates and stuff, even better, follow the story or something. Also Dipper and Mabel are seventeen, so officially teens, not just technically. Anyway, I hope you enjoy . PS. Updates might come a bit slower, since my creativity sometimes doesn't cooperate.)**

He saw her almost everyday , at the same place, around the same time, at the bus stop, but he never talked to her. A part of him didn't want to bother her , but the other was just struck with curiosity. Why was she here at almost the same time everyday ? And why this bus stop ?

There were clearly more exciting , and calm places to sit and think , especially in Gravity Falls. In the middle of nowhere in the state of Oregon. But she always chose this bus stop , in the middle of the night , at around midnight or sometimes even at one AM. He sometimes lay in bed at night , thinking about her, but even after that he couldn't get himself to talk to her.

He never spoke about the mystery girl , except to his twin sister, Mabel. She almost always had the answer, but she couldn't even think of any insane theory for this girl.

" Seriously Dipper " , she said " The next time you see her at that bus stop you should go talk to her ".

"Well I would , but she always looks so sad, and worried, and I don't want to bother her even more", Dipper said.

Mabel sighed "Maybe that's what she does need, someone to bother her about her problems. If what you say is true , she probably wants to have someone listen to her. Sometimes that's all I want too".

"I really hope you're right. But why that bus stop though ? There are plenty of places to choose from, but why that old bus stop?".

Mabel shrugged "I dunno. Maybe it reminds her of something. Look Dipper ", she then said softly , when she noticed her brother looking down in sadness and doubt . "You should seriously just talk to her. I bet if anyone can make her smile it's going to be a dork like you".

Dipper looked at his sister slightly annoyed "Yeah , I guess you're right. I should just talk to her, and figure out what's up".

His sister nodded. After a short silence she looked up from her magazine , and wondered "What are you doing out at midnight anyway?"

Dipper looked at her from across the room " Umm...I like taking walks in the middle of the night".

Mabel looked at him in suspicion for the longest time . Dipper grew a bit nervous at his sister's stare, and looked back at her with big eyes.

"Alright!" , Mabel said happily and buried her head in the magazine again.

Dipper let out something like a sigh of relief, but thankfully Mabel was to distracted to notice. He too focused back on the journal , that he had found in the first summer of him being here in Gravity Falls.

He was glad that he and his sister decided to stay there after their second summer here, since Gravity Falls High School had more choices on History courses , and Art courses for Mabel.

Their great uncle Stan was also happy that they had stayed there. He was lonely , at least after work when Soos and Wendy left to go home. So there wasn't much for him to do , but when Dipper and Mabel decided to stay , they spent most of their time together. Some times when Dipper had to go to school later, because he had the first two hours off , he and Stan would often go to Stan's secret underground laboratory, and tried figuring out the mysteries of the three journals, but till this day they didn't have any luck.

The times changed a bit after they got older. Mabel still spent a lot of time with Stan, but Dipper started distancing himself, because he had other things on his mind. Dipper was now a teenager , officially . With seventeen he wondered about the usual things like girls, video games, and trying to find his own path in life. Mabel on the other hand was always the one who spent more time with family , so she hadn't changed much. Stan wasn't disappointed that Dipper had decided to go outside more, and explore the town.

Even though Gravity Falls was a small town ,there were still so many mysteries to be discovered.

After some time of reading in the dimly lit light , Dippers eyes got heavy , and he found it hard to keep them open, and not very much later he was already snoring quietly in his bed. He was in a deep and dreamless sleep, but it was still a kind of restless sleep, because his body sensed that someone was watching him.

Some time after twisting and turning wildly in his bed , Dipper jolted up into a sitting position. "Weird dream" , he said sleepily , rubbing his eyes as he got out of bed. He looked to his right and saw Mabel with her eyes closed.

He always wondered how she could be such a deep sleeper, when he kept on having the same dreams over and over again with one or the other alteration. He quietly grabbed his blue sweater, and snuck out the bedroom door. He creeped down the stairs , and into the gift shop of the Mystery Shack. The house was completely silent when he left, it was almost to eerie.

Dipper walked into the woods, just like he usually would when he walked to that bus stop, but this time it felt different. This time , it felt like he was being watched. He walked slower, and more aware of his surroundings , but there was no one there. Was he just being paranoid? He couldn't make any sense of it.

He walked past the out of business Dusk Till Dawn , and had to smile to himself. When he was twelve he and Mabel accompanied Wendy and her friends here. They met the teenage hating ghost owners of this shop , and he had to preform the Lamby Lamby dance , just to save everyone. He chuckled to himself, he would have never thought that this dance would some day save lives, if that even was on the line at the time.

He now approached the dimly lit bus stop. He was expecting her to sit in the empty spot , but she wasn't there. Dipper didn't know what to make of it , and sat down in hopes that she would still get here. After what seemed like ages , he looked down at his wrist watch . Two AM , where was she ? Maybe she didn't feel the need to come here today , Dipper thought to himself . But she always came here, but why not tonight ?

He waited half an hour more, but when she still didn't show up , he decided to get up and leave. "Tonight is just weird " , he said to himself as he walked through the forest towards the Mystery Shack.

He shivered a bit , maybe he should have brought that jacket after all , since fall nights got so cold.

Dipper was home now, and quietly walked up the stairs, hoping that the floor boards wouldn't creak on the way to the bedroom. When he opened the door , he quietly peaked in and saw Mabel still sleeping soundly. He then opened the door further and walked in. After he quietly closed the door, he took off his sweater, and shirt , and changed into his sweat pants, then lay down in bed. He gave a big yawn before turning onto his side, lifting the covers up to his ears, and falling a sleep.

What Dipper didn't know was, that he was in fact being watched. Through the darkness of the night, something was peaking through the window.

**(Authors Note: I am having a bit too much fun with this story :D ) **


	2. Mysterious Nights

**( A bit of an authors note: I need to figure out how this website works again. A lot has changed since I uploaded here last, but I will get used to it. Well I hope you liked chapter one, and will like the following just as much. I edit a lot in my stories, so if I made a change to any of the previous chapters I will let you know via Authors Note , but that shouldn't be the case, since I already edit before I upload. I really hope some of you really like this story already. It's taken me a long time to come up with these, hence why the updates might come slower at some points. I'm trying to make sense to it all. Anyway enough of my rambling. Hope you enjoy Chapter two)**

Dipper spent most of the next day going to school , doing his homework , and doing chores. It wasn't until eight o clock when he finally sat down on his bed, with a sandwich in his hand, and could finally relax.

Tonight he wanted some peace and quiet so he decided to spend the night in his own room , where Mabel couldn't bother him , and he wouldn't bother her. He sighed to himself as he lay in bed, and took a bite from his sandwich.

_Wonder if she'll be there tonight_ he thought to himself.

He didn't know why , but it would worry him if she wasn't at the bus stop tonight. But one thing was for sure. He couldn't stay up until three o clock on a school night .

Dipper fell a sleep during his math class today. That wasn't usually a hard thing to do , but this time he just sat in the back of the class, and lay his head down. When his teacher confronted him about it , he shrugged it off as late night homework , which his maths teacher let slide , because he was usually a good student, in and out of class.

Tonight he didn't feel like flipping through the pages of his journal. Tonight , he decided to watch Tv , so he grabbed the remote that lay on his night stand , and turned to Gravity Falls Network ( GFN for short ) , where they were showing yet another rerun of a documentary that Dipper must have seen about a dozen times now. _The Legend of Slenderman._

He chuckled to himself. Slenderman wasn't real of course. There was no shadow figure in the forest of Gravity Falls that took people deep into the forest, and drove them insane. Many legends of Gravity Falls were true, but that one in particular wasn't. About ten minutes into the documentary his eyes became drowsy again, and he dozed off.

Dipper woke up at exactly eleven o clock, just like he did every night, but this time was the first time he noticed. " Why is it always exactly at eleven ?" , he asked himself, and got out of bed to put on his shoes, sweater, and this time he was sure to bring a jacket. He creeped through his bed room door ,and down the hall , and into the Mystery Shack's shop. And as always snuck through the door, and shut it quietly behind him, then entered the cold night.

While walking through the forest , a strange chill went down his spine , making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He shivered "I didn't realise it got cold this fast" , and he put on the jacket over his sweater. The walk through the forest seemed to take ages tonight , but nothing was different, not that he noticed anyway.

Looking a head, Dipper saw the faded light of the Dusk Till Dawn convenient store, and walked a bit faster. While he walked the last couple of feet , the wind began to whistle through the trees , making the forest seem spookier, and made the trees seem like they were whispering. " Dipper " , he could hear someone whispering.

He stopped dead in his tracks, and turned his head wildly.

"Whose there !? " , he said loudly, still turning his head wildly, but no one answered. He continued walking .

"Pines" , again the whisper, but this time it seemed to repeat. Dipper gulped, and ran as fast as he could, until he reached the convenient store. He took a couple of seconds to catch his breath, then walked down the street.

"That was freaky" , Dipper said quietly.

The trees were still rustling , and the hair on Dipper's neck were still standing upright. What was it with this night? Something like this hasn't happened before, or at least, not that he noticed.

"Cipher" , he heard the whispering again . "Cipher?" , he asked out loud "What the?" . He took a closer listen, but it seemed that the wind was just normally blowing through the trees.

"What is it today?!" , he impatiently asked himself. No strange events happened, until he reached the bus stop.

She wasn't there. Again. Where could she be ? Dipper grew worried . Was she okay ? I hope she's not dead . Now he realised that he was just being paranoid. She wasn't dead, she was probably just busy. For the second night in a row , when previously she had always been there. Again the wind rustled the tree branches.

" Dipper " , they seemed to whisper .

"Stan?" , he called out , hoping that it was just his great uncle following him ,and allowing himself to play a cruel joke on his great nephew.

The wind became stronger now " Dipper Pines".

Dipper began to shiver all over his body , and the short hair on his arms stood up now too. He looked around in fear, and the wind was still howling through the trees.

" Dipper . Dipper . Dipper " , he kept hearing the whispering .

"Mabel ,stop that ! " , he said , cowering into one of the seats at the bus stop. And again the whispers

" Dipper Pines .You're next".

" CUT IT OUT ! " , he now finally shouted, covering his head with his hands.

"Cut what out ?" , a girl asked suddenly ,making him scream and fall off his seat. The wind had stopped, and so had the whispering, thankfully.

His heart was racing and his lungs seemed to work slow, because he was gasping for air.

"You okay ?" , the girl asked. Dipper opened his eyes , and saw a hand in front of him.

He decided to take it , not thinking that it might be a zombie, or a vampire. When Dipper was back up on his feet again , he dusted himself off , and looked at the girl who had so kindly helped him up. It was her. The girl he had been seeing every night at this abandoned bus stop.

" It's you " , was all he could manage.

She smiled " Yeah , hey it's me " , she waved an awkward right hand.

Dipper shook his head, to attempt to come back to his senses "No , what I mean Yes, but you're her . You're the girl that's been sitting here every night, except yesterday".

The girl squinted at him "Are you stalking me ?", she suspiciously wondered.

"What !?" , Dipper panicked " Me ? Stalking ? No! Never ! . I just noticed , cause I walk past here".

"Every single night " , the girl concluded.

" No!...Kinda! " , he said ,clearly defeated by her fact.

The girl chuckled " Name's Luna " , she said sweetly and held out her hand.

Dipper shook her hand " Mine's Dipper ".

" You're one of the Pines twins right ?" , she inquired.

Dipper nodded "Yeah , my sister Mabel is at home sleeping right now".

"Like a normal person should be , right ?", she looked at him ,clearly amused.

Dipper scratched the back of his neck " Hey , you wanna sit down ?", he wondered.

Luna shrugged "Sure , why not. There's only one seat here though".

"Side of the street?" , he suggested.

When she nodded, both of them sat down at the side of the street. The night seemed to have warmed up a bit, because the stone wasn't as cold as he would have thought it would be.

Both teens sat in silence for a while , until a question finally arose in Dippers head.

"So..how come you sit out here ?" .

Luna shrugged " I dunno. I like coming out at night. Calms me down, y'know ? ".

Dipper nodded "Yeah" , he sighed "It's so peaceful , and after a long day , it's just like you can hear yourself think. It's nice".

She nodded, and started humming.

"So , I have never seen you in school " , Dipper stated.

Luna sighed " I'm being homeschooled. My dad doesn't think highly of the school system".

Dipper glanced at her from the corner of his eyes " So you don't have many friends I guess. With being home schooled and whatnot ".

She brushed a strand of her red hair out of her face ,and looked at him "I don't actually. You are one of the first people I have talked to. My dad doesn't like it much, when I talk to strangers".

Dipper looked up at her now "Well I'm not strange! ", he said , a hint of laughter in his voice.

She eyed him suspiciously " I dunno " , she said " You look pretty strange to me ".

" Oh hey! Look who's talking " , he joked.

Luna giggled. She looked at her watch . One o clock . "Hey I have to go now", she said , standing up , and straightening up her clothes.

Dipper rose as well " Can I see you again ?".

She was already a couple of steps away from him , but she turned around to say " When?" .

" Tomorrow ? Right here ? " , he said hopeful that she would agree.

She shrugged " How about this. You'll see me , when you see me ", and she ran off.

_What a strange girl _Dipper thought to himself , and walked towards home.

When he climbed into his bed, he thought about Luna, and how mysterious she was. Even though he wasn't any smarter about who she was , he was still happy, because he finally talked to her, and at least knew her name.

It didn't take long until Dippers eyes closed , and he drifted into a dreamless sleep.

**( Authors note time : I kinda felt the need to add a couple of lines to the end. It didn't feel right to end the chapter like that, especially when Dipper is supposed to wake up all excited the next morning. Anyway, I really hope you are enjoying yourselves. And sorry again if the updates come rather slow, but I am picky with the stuff I write, so please be patient. I am working on Chapter 3 tonight, and hopefully it will be up later, or tomorrow. It's a holiday here tomorrow, so I guess I should have loads of time to upload another Chapter. I also have to upload another YouTube video, so busy day tomorrow :) Have a great day or night amd see you in the next Chapter ) **


	3. It Will Pay Off

**( Hello again :) I know I know, I said I would post yesterday, but that YouTube thing I told you about ? Yeah that took a while, and even that didn't get done. So I sat my butt down in the middle of the night and wrote this beginning part of the new chapter. This is still a work in progress, and well I will add more to it , and finish the chapter soon. I really hope you like the start of it though. So I shall get out of here ) **

Dipper had to keep quiet the whole next day. Mabel was at the mall with her friends Grenda and Candy. If he wouldn't have overslept then maybe he would have still caught her, but for now he had to camp out in his room , maybe help Gruncle Stan a bit in the shop and around the house, and just avoid the whole 'Why do you go out at midnight' conversation.

The coast was clear , until dinner , when Gruncle Stan asked Dipper " So is there anything interesting that you have to go out every single night?".

Dipper swallowed his spoon full of chilli "No , nothing interesting. Just like walking", he kept his answer concise.

God dammit , where are you Mabel he thought to himself.

"You know kid, you have been acting awfully strange recently", Stan said "Nothing's happening is there ?", he seemed worried.  
>Gruncle Stan , worried? What an odd concept to grasp. Stan was usually a very stern person, and didn't show his emotions much, so this was an odd turn of events.<p>

Dipper looked at his great uncle "Nah, nothings wrong. I just...had things on my mind lately", he tried to sound reassuring.

Stan grunted "Whatever you say kid. Well I hope that you're talking to your sister about whatever is going on with you", he rose from his seat to put away his plate.

Dipper sighed, and looked after Stan " I will , don't worry ".

He also pushed himself up from the table , and cleaned up his plate in the sink. When he was done drying the dishes, he placed cups , plates and silverware back in their rightful cupboards and shelves.  
>Dipper was just on his way upstairs when Stan showed up at the foot of the steps "Before you go upstairs, take out the garbage".<br>Dipper walked down the steps , and grabbed the garbage from the bin , and took it outside.

Wonder if she will be there tonight , Dipper thought . His thoughts were quickly interrupted when a car pulled onto the property.

"See you guys later! ", it was Mabel. She had finally come home.

Dipper rushed inside, where Mabel just walked through the front door.

"Mabel! ", Dipper was breathlessly excited "I need to tell you something".

His sister questioningly looked at her sibling " Hold on a second. I need to hang up my coat, and say hi to Stan".

Dipper nodded "Alright , meet me upstairs in your room".

Mabel nodded, and proceeded to walk into the livingroom.

"Hey kiddo ", he could hear Gruncle Stan say.

Mabel chuckled " I'm seventeen Gruncle Stan, I'm not a kiddo anymore".

Dipper sighed, and walked upstairs.

In Mabel's room he lay on his bed, well the bed that he slept on when he and Mabel wanted to have a brother-sister-sleepover.

Ever since Dipper had moved into the room downstairs Mabel had transformed this room into a typical teenaged girls room. Boy Bands, Make up , and clothes lying everywhere. The walls were covered in bands of which he hasn't even heard of . The only one he knew of was SevralTimez , the boyband that Grenda and Candy introduced Mabel to. Last time Mabel talked about them , she told him about how they were now writing their own songs, and how much more independent they have gotten , since Mabel released them into the wild out doors a couple of years ago.

He had to chuckle to himself. Girls were crazy.

"Good night Gruncle Stan!" , he heard Mabel say loudly.

The door opened , and Mabel walked in with her shopping bags , and closed the door behind her.

"I'm here!" , she said excitedly , and placed her bags on the already messy floor.

Dipped raised an eyebrow "Shouldn't you … like … clean this place up a little? " , he wondered.

His sister chuckled "Oh Dipper! " , she sat on her bed " Not everything can be organized ".

She got out a sweater out one of her bags. It was light blue , and had a horse on it . Mabel eyed it , then looked at Dipper " And ? What do you think ? Of course I'll need to Mabel-fy it but it's cute".

Dipper now sat up on his bed "Not exactly my area of expertise. I came to talk about the mystery girl , remember ?".

Mabel gasped , a wide smile on her face. She threw her new sweater on the floor , adding to the mess, and was now focused on her brother.

"Tell me more " , she said slowly.

" You're kinda freaking me out " , he said to her when she stared at him for the longest time without blinking.

"C'mon ! Tell me ! Tell me , tell me , tell me! ".

"Alright ! " , sometimes Mabel annoyed her brother a little bit to much.

He continued " I walked to the bus stop last night, and weird stuff happened. The trees seemed to be whispering last night , and they were whispering my name, and I believe one of them was kind of a death threat".

Dipper paused for Mabel to maybe ask a question , but she stayed quiet and was still looking at him.

"Alright", he mumbled under his breath " Well so I came to the bus stop , and she wasn't there, so I decided to sit down".

He told the remainder of the story , leaving out the minor detail of him nearly wetting himself.

" Her name is Luna, and I have no idea when I will see her again", he finished.

The room was silent. Still Mabel was quiet, he couldn't believe how long she could be silent for , it was very unusual for her.

Suddenly she smiled, wider and wider each time.

Dipper looked at her , scared of what was to come "Mabel , seriously you're freaking me out !".

His sister jumped off her bed, and tackled him down on his " Oh! My! Goodness ! Dipper's got a girlfriend ! ".

Mabel jumped up and down on Dipper's bed, while he just sat on the side and waited for this to be over.

He sighed "Are you done yet?" , he asked , clearly annoyed .

Mabel jumped one last time , then sat next to her twin.

"So, what are you going to do now ? " , she wondered.

Dipper groaned " I dunno! I don't even know when I'll see her again. It's so frustrating! ".

He then stood up " How will I ever know if I will ever see her again!? Mabel , this is a crisis!", he grabbed his sister by the shoulders and shook her lightly.

Mabel tensed up , and wriggled free of her brothers grasp "You need to relax" , she said " Breathe and sit your butt down ".

After taking a deep breath , Dipper sat down next to Mabel "So what do I do ?".

"Well!" , Mabel started " You need to go back every night until you see her again. Duh!" .

Dipper looked down " I don't know Mabel , maybe I'm just going nuts".

" Don't be actin' so cray cray" , Mabel quoted Sev'ral Timez "Just go back today. You'll see , it'll pay off'.

Her brother nodded "Guess you're right " , he said, then stood up and walked to the door.

Mabel looked after her brother "Where are you going?".

"Into my room , I need to think a bit".

She gave him a small smile " Okidoki , but I'm here if you want to talk " .

Dipper smiled back at her "I know", and he closed the door behind him, and went into his room.

For the next week Dipper went to the bus stop , in hopes that Luna would be there, but no luck, she wasn't there. He grew more disappointed each day he checked, but on the seventh day he wasn't even expecting her to be there. He just sat down , closed his eyes and listened to the cricket noise.

_Why isn't she here ? _He thought

_She would have been here. I know she would have. Maybe something happened to her. Or maybe you're just being a paranoid little kid again. _

He sighed.

The moon shone brightly tonight he noticed. It was so bright that the stars were barely showing around it.

It was such a calm , and beautiful night. He actually felt relaxed.

For a while he just sat there, breathing calmly , and not worrying about his surroundings.

It was the sudden rustle from the bushes that made him jump.

"What wuz tha" , he stood up quickly.

He knew he shouldn't , but something inside him made him check the bushes, where the noise had come from, but there was nothing.

"What the ..hell" , he whispered to himself, and entered the forest a little further.

Again that rustling .

_What the hell is going on here ? _

It went quiet again , and all he could hear were the crickets. He didn't understand it , where was that sound coming from , if not from the bushes. And if it actually did come from the bushes, then how could it just vanish into thin air like this ?

_So many questions _

He didn't have time for this. Instead of investigating the forest further , he went back to the bus stop and sat in the seat again.

He waited for what seemed like hours, until he heard that rustling sound again.

Dipper tried to stay calm this time. He didn't move from the spot , and just breathed calmly.

The noise had stopped again.

_This is weird, even for Gravity Falls _, Dipper thought to himself.

His surroundings were silent again. It was the hand suddenly touching Dippers shoulder that made him jump up , and scream a little.

"Woah sorry " , it were Luna's blue eyes he was looking at " Didn't mean to scare you. You alright ?", she asked him.

Dipper sighed "Yeah , everything's fine, just the night freaking me out again with rustling of the trees and bushes".

Luna chuckled " That's funny. You wanna sit down at the side of the road again?".

He nodded and both teens sat down at the spot where they sat a week prior.

**(Update: I am going through a bit of a writers block due to depression , but I am trying to get these chapters out as fast as I can, but please understand that I need to be happy with them before I post them. Thank you :) . Authors Note : Well that's the end of the chapter. I tried to end it on a tiny cliff hanger. Does it seem sudden? I hope not. I kinda like this chapter. Also , I think I might add a little something about Luna in the second chapter. Well Chapter 4 will come soon. Check back for more :) ) **


	4. Late Night Conversations

**A/N : Hola peoples ! I changed Chapter three a bit , so make sure to check that out first! It's been a while. Sorry for the late upload, but my mind is at a blank recently, but I try keeping the story updated as regularly as I can. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it goes together with Chapter 3 , so enjoy ! :D **

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Dipper wasn't exactly sure how to start a conversation with a girl that he had just met, but was already wondering about for a very long time.

" So " , he started, but was silenced again when Luna had turned her head to look at him.

For the first time since he's seen her , he noticed that she had really beautiful hair , it was kind of a deep red, and was shimmering beautifully in the dim light of the streetlight.

She raised an eyebrow at his sudden silence .

Dipper scratched the back of his neck " Um...I like your hair" , he mumbled.

He thought she'd hear him , but to his disappointment she only raised another eyebrow " What ?", she wondered.

_Quick Dipper , think of something. Don't be stupid ! _

Dipper took a look around , and then looked at Luna " I like the air " , he said sheepishly "You know, it's nice...and fresh".

Luna chuckled " You're a weird guy , you know that Dipper ".

He liked the way she spoke his name, it was almost hypnotizing.

She had a very soft voice . She wasn't loud and it always made her sound so gentle and kind. Kind of made him think of Mabel , even though her voice wasn't quiet, actually it was quite the opposite. It was rather loud , and could be annoying at times, but it always made her come across like a fun and kind person, which she was.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" , Luna then asked him.

He looked at her . She had beautiful blue eyes, almost like ice .

"Yeah , I have a twin sister. Her name is Mabel " , he told her.

Luna smiled " Oh cool . I don't have any siblings, so no one to really talking to when I need to talk".

She looked back on the asphalt.

"How about your mom and dad ? Can't you talk to them or something ? ".

Luna chuckled "Would if I could, but my mom died a couple of years ago, and my dad...well let's just say he hasn't been the same guy for a long time".

Dipper frowned " That's horrible. Any grandparents ? Uncles ? Aunts ?" .

Luna shook her head in silence, then looked up " See that's why I go out at night. To get away from my dad. I..He doesn't like it when I go out. He feels ...protective of me " .

Now Dipper raised an eyebrow "That doesn't sound like protective, that sounds more like possessive ".

She shrugged "Call it what you will. It wont make any difference. He probably doesn't even know I'm out right now".

"What do you mean ?" , Dipper asked bewildered.

The girl grinned "I told you, he wont let me go out, but I can't stay locked in that house forever. So I get my freedom by defying my father. It's easy as that. What about your mom and dad , do they know you're out this late ?".

Dipper nodded " Well yeah. Not my mom and dad, since they live in California, but my Great Uncle Stan knows, and so does Mabel. She knows that I met you , but I kept it secret from Gruncle Stan".

She looked at him " You told your sister about me ?".

Again the young man nodded "Well yeah , I needed someone to talk to , and Mabel has always been there to listen to me, ever since we were young. I guess it's a twin thing", he shrugged.

Luna remained quiet.

After another couple of minutes Dipper stood up , and cracked his back.

"You okay ?" , Luna inquired , looking up at the young man.

"Yeah " , Dipper groaned while stretching " Fine " , he breathed out.

"Wanna go on a walk ? " , he asked.

She looked at her watch "Actually I need to head home, or else my dad will notice I went out", and she straightened herself up as well.

"Oh , I can walk you home if you want to ", Dipper offered.

Luna smiled shyly "I'd like that".

On the way to her house they talked about all sorts of different things.

What kind of music they listened to. Anything for him , and mostly classical for her.

What they did for fun . Played video games, and go outside for Dipper. Reading , and doing chores for Luna.

Their shoulders brushed against each other a couple of times, but either of them let it go unnoticed.

They got to Lunas house, and she looked oddly uncomfortable Dipper noticed.

"What's wrong ?" , he wondered.

Luna tried to shrug it off as if nothing were wrong, but Dipper insisted on her telling him.

She sighed "It's just my dad and his drinking problem. It kinda makes life a bit hard, you know", she gave him a weak smile.

He didn't know what made him do it , but he reached out her arms so he could hug her, but before he could she flinched.

Luna shook her head "I'm sorry, I thought you were going to hit me" , she chuckled " So silly".

Dipper gave her a reassuring smile "I wont hit you. I just wanted to give you a hug ".

She then loosened herself up , and let Dippers arms enclose her. When he noticed her tensing up again , he caressed her back to try to comfort her, and that's when she smiled to herself, and placed her arms around his torso.

A light went on in Luna's house, and that's when she let go of Dipper, and ran towards her house.

He waited until she was at what seemed to be her window. She looking around to see if Dipper was still standing where they had stood.

"See you tomorrow?" , he called after her.

She smiled , and nodded, then disappeared into her window.

He sighed , and grinned to himself "Good Night " , he whispered, then turned around to head home.

**A/N : It's a bit of a short chapter, but I fan girled so hard when I wrote this! It's super cute ! Hope you liked this chapter! Until the next update , my friends! **


	5. Talking to Girls

**A/N : Hey lovely people , I just wanted to say that the chapter five update might come a bit slower than usual. My depression has taken a toll of me recently , and I just feel tired a lot of the time. I usually write at night , but since I am getting tired a lot sooner, and sleep a lot more, I just don't write much right now. I started this though , and I really hope that will be satisfactory until I add the rest of the chapter. I am seeing my doctor some time this week , and I hope it will get better from then. I hope you guys will keep tuned in for the coming updates. Also I am trying to make this story as interesting as possible. Got the ending planned out already, and I might have a small picture coming soon also. I will work on this as much as I can. Hope you all are feeling well, and have a great day :) **

Dipper spent most of his Sunday sleeping in , and just having the whole entire day to be lazy . He had done all his homework , and had done his chores the day before .

_Now what do I do ?_ He wondered to himself, then it suddenly dawned on him that he didn't tell Mabel about last night . Dipper quickly scrambled out of his room , and ran upstairs into Mabel's.  
>He didn't even bother knocking and busted into her having another one of her girlish phone conversations with Grenda and Candy.<p>

Girls could be so annoying .

" Mabel " , Dipper whisper-yelled , but she just waved for him to go away.

Dipper groaned , then attempted to try again " I need to tell you something " .

" Hold on a second " , Finally! His twin sister put the phone down on the bed, then looked at Dipper with a disapproving look on her face " Dipper " , she groaned " can you tell me later , I am in a conversation here".

" but it's important !" , Dipper insisted.

Mabel shook her head " later " , then went back to her telephone conversation.

" So then she tells him to stop talking to me " , he heard Mabel say as he exited her room.

He was slightly angry at Mabel for not hanging up the phone. She had those three-way conversations almost everyday surely she could skip it one time. It seemed like a waste of time anyway.

Dipper walked downstairs again , and found Gruncle Stan in the kitchen , making himself a sandwich. He was feeling desperate for advice.

" Hey Stan , Dipper said scratching the back of his head " can I ask you something ? ". Really desperate.  
>He wasn't sure about asking Stan for crush advice , since he was so skeptic when it came down to things like feelings.<p>

Stan nodded , then took a bite of his sandwich and leaned against the counter . " sure kid, what seems to be the problem ?" .

Dipper was quiet for a while, then asked " how do I tell a girl I like her ?".

His great uncle looked at him in amazement. There was a long silence, until Gruncle Stan spat out the bite of sandwich he chewed on , and started to laugh hysterically.

Dipper groaned " ugh! Never mind ! " , he said loudly then walked into his room again, and sat on his bed.

" Stupid Mabel " , he muttered under his breath " stupid Gruncle Stan. I need some advice and Mabel's to busy being a girl , and Stan is just -" , he suddenly got an idea.

" Wendy " , he said . She would give him advice that he could rely on. Hopefully she wasn't busy with college. He grabbed his cell phone, and dialed Wendy's number.

It rang a few times that Dipper had already thought that she wasn't going to pick up.

"Dipper!" , Wendy answered the phone , her voice excited "I haven't heard from you in a while. What's up little man?"

He rolled his eyes, smiling "Hey ! I'm not a little man anymore. Remember? I outgrew you when I was fifteen".

She gave a loud snort "Yeah , yeah , way to rub it in Pines", she was smiling, he could tell by the sound of her voice.

Dipper gave a loud laugh "That's Mr Pines to you shorty".

She laughed , then got quiet "So how come you're calling? Did something bad happen in Gravity Falls?".

He sighed loudly .

"Oh I know that sigh . Who's the girl ? "

Dipper jumped up a little , shocked by the accuracy of her guess "What..Me ? no!".

"C'mon Dipper you can tell me anything , you know that" , Wendy said kindly.

This time the young man groaned " Fine! Her name is Luna, and she's pretty and I like talking to her".

There was a silence before Wendy asked "Isn't she the girl that lives with that weird guy somewhere by that old bus stop ?"

"Yeah , you know her?"

Again silence.

"Wendy?"

"Well I wouldn't say know her, but my dad knows her dad, and he says he's a really weird character. Seems really out of touch with the world, and drinks way to much".

Dipper lowered his eyes, sad that Wendy wasn't here to see how sad it made him to know that someone had something like that as a parent.

"You okay Dipper?" , Wendy's question made him jump.

Dipper nodded "Yeah I'm fine. Just a bit worried. I haven't known her for too long, but I like her a lot. Should I tell her that?".

" I would take it slow dude, I mean , she doesn't seem to get out much. My dad told me that her dad home schools her , because he doesn't want her getting any bad influences".

Silence, and Wendy continued.

"Dad told me that one time, while Luna , that's her name right?".

"Yeah"

"That while Luna was cleaning, she let a plate accidentally hit the floor, and her dad yelled at her that she was useless, and to go to her room".

Dipper scratched the back of his neck " That sounds awful. We've seen each other twice near that bus stop , and yesterday I walked her home, and when I reached out to give her a hug, she flinched, as if I was going to hurt her".

Wendy gave out a sigh "Look Dip, just take it slow with her. She seems a bit damaged by her dad. You should definitely keep talking to her, but just don't push yourself onto her or anything. Be cool, and be yourself".

*knock. knock*

Someone had knocked on Dippers bedroom door.

"Wendy , hey I got to go " , he said to his friend.

"Alright dude, call me again soon. I like our conversations".

Dipper smiled " Talk to you later", and they both hung up the phone.

He lay his cell phone back on the bedside table. He jumped off his bed, and walked to the door. When he opened it , he saw Mabel standing there, with a slight hint of guilt in her eyes.

The male twin raised his eyebrows "Don't you have a conversation to get back to ?", he asked her coldly.

Mabel's eyes narrowed "I'm sorry Dipper. I know it was rude, and not nice of me, but I'm here now" , she gave him a weak smile.

Dipper couldn't stay mad at his sister for a long time, so he opened the door further as an invitation for her to come in.

In the room Mabel and Dipper sat on his bed, and talked about the events of last night, and about the conversation with Wendy.

They were still talking when Gruncle Stan called them to dinner.

At dinner it was mostly quiet , besides Gruncle Stan asking them how their day was and how they would spend the night. They had chicken noodle soup, not one of Dipper's favourites, so he decided to go back to his room early , and get some sleep , before he went out again tonight to meet Luna.

Right on time Dipper woke up again at 11 PM. He got himself out of bed, and put on his shoes. Ready now ,with his sweater and jacket on over his shirt, and jeans, he went outside and started making his way to the old bus stop.

_Wonder what it will be like today , _he wondered to himself while walking past the Dusk 2 Dawn .

His heart was racing , and he felt like he couldn't walk fast enough to get to the bus stop , to get to her and spend time with her. Dipper wondered if she was feeling the same way too.

_I mean she has to right ? _he thought to himself . After all she was locked inside the house all day doing nothing but chores and reading, and being stuck with that dad of hers. But he sort of felt bad. He didn't even know Luna's dad, but he was already making judgments about him. He felt like he wasn't doing the man justice, since his parents has always taught him not to judge a book by it's cover or by it's reviews.

He let out a sigh before seeing the dimly lit light of the street lamp at the bus stop.

Dipper smiled as he saw the person sitting in that one seat. It was her. She had indeed showed up again, even after that sudden good bye last night.

His pace quickened , and just before he reached her he slowed down and raised his hand in greeting.

"Hey " , he managed.

She gave him a smile, pulling a red lock behind her ear " Hello Dipper, how are you ? ".

They didn't even have to exchange words when Luna stood up and they both sat down at their usual side of the road.

Dipper's mouth curled into a smile " Oh you know same old, same old. Had a lazy day today, since I got my homework done yesterday. Oh, and I talked to my good friend Wendy".

Luna's smile turned into a slight frown "Oh, I think her dad has been at our house a couple of times", she mentioned , her voice quiet.

The young man nodded "Yeah he was".

Luna now seemed really nervous "Did he say anything?", she wondered.

He didn't know how to answer. He wanted to be truthful , but he also didn't want to hurt her feelings. This night was going off on a bad start.

_I should have just kept that part to myself _.

When Dipper's silence had taken a bit too long , Luna looked at him , her eyebrows lowered " You don't have to think of a lie" , she told him , clearly hurt " I know that the people who know about me usually talk behind my back even though they don't know me. I'm used to it", and she turned her head away from him.

"It's not like that " , Dipper panicked.

She whirled her head around again to look at him "Oh it's not ? I'm sorry that my dad isn't perfect, and that he is the way he is , and that he scares me to death ", tears were falling down her cheeks " and I sometimes wish that he wasn't my dad or that I could just go away, but he is still my dad. He is all I have".

Dipper looked down on the ground, watching the ants crawl around his shoes.

"Luna...I'm " , was the only thing he managed in a whisper.

He heard her sigh "I know , I know. It's not your fault" , she said.

Dipper looked up at her again, and she continued "But after my mom died he's completely changed. It's like he's lost himself when she died".

The young man sighed deeply " Sometimes it's like that when people lose someone they love more than anything in the world".

Luna nodded in silence, then leaned her head on Dipper's shoulder.

He could have sworn that his heart had skipped a beat as soon as her head touched his body.

"L...Luna ?" , he stammered .

She didn't even look at him , she just looked on into nothingness "Yes Dipper ?", she said , her voice soft.

"Tell me more about your mom and dad, your life".

There was a small silence until she started.

"Well it all started when my mom and dad met in college. She was studying English , and my dad studied Demonology ".

"Wait , what ?!" , Dipper shockingly asked.

He felt Luna nodded on his shoulder, and she proceeded :

" They shared a couple of the same friends, and one day they hung out together on campus , and they got to know each other ", she seemed to lighten up a bit " He walked her from and to classes, took her out to dinner, and leave small notes on her dorm room. He really loved her. She was never really into guys, but my dad seemed to change her mind since they started dating sometime in the summer between their second and third year of college".

Dipper smiled "Sounds like they were made for each other".

Again she silently nodded, but this time she wrapped her arms around his and continued her story.

"My mom and dad both graduated with good grades. My mom and him moved to South Carolina , they both got jobs there, my mom as a teacher, and my dad worked at school teaching about demons. He originally wanted to be an exorcist , but that would have taken many years abroad. So then they had me a couple of years later. They both loved me , I know that. They always did things with me. I know I was their everything, I always saw and felt it. But then my mom got sick , and my dad seemed to lose his mind. We moved here, since my mom was born here".

Dipper sighed and leaned his head on hers, knowing what would come next.

"He thought her old surroundings would make her feel stronger, but she died a year after we moved. Then my dad started praying, not to God, but to the Devil to take his soul instead, and that he would seek revenge one day for taking the thing he loved most. He was scared, and he started to lock me in the house. He told me that the world was dangerous , and that he didn't want to lose me too. I obeyed, not wanting to hurt him, but for months now I've been coming here to this bus stop, and now I met you. And my future suddenly seems to much brighter".


End file.
